Assurance and Avenging of Darius - Daniel 6:21-24

The wisdom of God is wiser than the foolishness of this
world!

Daniel answered, “O king, live for ever! My God sent
his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have
not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight.
Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.”

The prophet’s words, “O king, live forever,” are not an
empty platitude, for Darius believed in the Living God,
and consequently, his inheritance is eternal life.

Who was with Daniel in the lions’ den? Possibly, it was
a theophany of the Second Person of the Trinity or “his
angel” could refer to an angel assigned to protect Daniel
(cf. Hebrews 1:14). Some angelic ministries occur without
people knowing it (Hebrews 13:2). Daniel was aware of the
presence and power of this angel.

Critics who deny miracles maintain that the lions were
toothless, or so gorged with choice meats, that they were
not hungry.

AVENGING OF DARIUS (6:24)

What happens next manifests a fundamental law of God.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps
what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful
nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one
who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap
eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8).

The fate of the officials who conspired against Daniel
is one of the numerous illustrations of the axiom “What
goes around comes around.”

At the king's command, the men who had falsely accused
Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions' den,
along with their wives and children. And before they
reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them
and crushed all their bones.

Was Daniel too old and tough for the lions to chew? No!
The immediate and swift attack of the lions on the
conspirators proves that Daniel had been miraculously
delivered. The prophet was a living miracle.

The practice in the Ancient Near East was to punish the
families of those who committed crimes. For instance,
under the instructions of Yahweh, Joshua did the same with
Achan and his family (Joshua 7:14-26). There is corporate
solidarity in mankind. All are condemned and die because
of Adam’s one trespass and we are saved and live through
Christ’s one act of righteousness (Romans 5:17-18). So,
was Darius just and righteous in his actions, when he cast
the families of the conspirators into the lions’ den? See
Deuteronomy 5:8-10; 7:9-10; and Ezekiel 18.